Industrial

Identity and Access Management Making the Industrial Internet of Things Secure

We enable factories, manufacturing plants, industrial devices, supply chains and fleets to benefit from the intelligence of the Internet of Things – without sacrificing security.

Securing factory IoT data

At the Aachen Demonstration Factory, the PTC energy monitoring solution safely collects data (including power, voltage & current) from different machinery on the shop floor and securely transfers it to the analytics platform over an Internet connection.

The Industrial Internet of Things, sometimes called the IIoT, harnesses smart sensors and networking technology to monitor and connect industrial equipment and environments. At its simplest, this might mean sensors that measure warehouse temperature and transmit it back to head office for on-going monitoring. At its most complex, this might mean an entire manufacturing process in which every separate machine records and shares a complex set of data, from levels of consumables to number of operations undertaken – this data is then used to inform product development, marketing campaigns, maintenance operations and more.

All of this has huge industrial potential, helping organizations to drive efficiencies and increase innovation. But connectivity of previously isolated endpoints brings risks.

Commercial Data Theft

Hackers can use the proliferation of new endpoints to access the corporate network, stealing financial and other commercially sensitive information

The IIoT dramatically increases the number of endpoint devices on corporate networks, every one of which is a potential route for cyber criminals to access the network, plant malware or exfiltrate sensitive data. Compounding this, those endpoint devices often simply don’t have the processing power for ‘baking in’ sophisticated cyber security protections, as is standard practice on laptop and desktop computers. Physical access for tampering with those endpoints may also be a possibility, with a wide range of locations.

Process Disruption and Environment Manipulation

Criminals can interfere with IoT-enabled devices in order to affect manufacturing and environmental conditions

Whether as a form of cyber vandalism or more sinister corporate espionage, criminal parties can tamper with a huge range of organizational processes, from design and production to storage and logistics, by accessing and then manipulating the IoT-enabled elements in industrial settings. For example, hackers managed to destroy a physical pump used by a water utility company in the US by accessing its SCADA system and altering the levels of chemicals in the water.

Cyber Safety: To ensure that industry can enjoy the benefits of the IoT without the risks, we need a secure foundation

Our KeyScaler platform provides a powerful combination of data encryption and device authentication, using unique patented Dynamic Device Key Generation (DDKG) technology. Given recent public incidents related to data loss, data protection is top of mind for many organisations. The first line of defence in protecting devices and data is identity and access management.

Encryption: We deliver data privacy through our KeyScaler platform. To minimize the risk of malicious parties accessing sensitive data collected and shared by connected devices, KeyScaler encrypts all data at the point of generation (in the device), in transit, and in storage within the IoT platform. The parameters and policies of these encryption processes are defined and controlled by the organization in question, giving them flexibility and close control of how they protect their data. All information is transferred agnostic to network architecture and communication technology, which maintains data privacy and enables the organization to expand and grow the network in any direction.